I Promise
by Ink Stained Quill
Summary: 'Sirius glared at her. "Did you honestly think I betrayed Lily and James? I loved them like family. They were my family. Didn't you think there was more to it?"' A different take on that fateful Halloween night. Slightly AU. Rated T for my own paranoia.


AN: A little fix-it-upper. I might add chapters or a new fic if I get inspiration or if people are interested. Let me know!

Disclaimer: All my love and thanks to the lovely JK Rowling for the opening of her playground for us lesser mortals to have fun in! I only own the things you don't recognize

_30__th__ October 1981_

There was a knock at the door and Lily got up from where she had been lying on the couch.

"Who is it?" she asked suspiciously, pointing her wand at the door.

"Me!" an excited voice cried out.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Sirius, I need more than that to let you in."

"Fine," he said, exasperated. "I am Sirius Orion Black, also known as the dog Padfoot, dashingly handsome and availably single debonair. Is that good enough, my dear Lilykins?"

"Yes that's fine." Lily opened the door, laughing, and Sirius kissed her on the cheek.

"How are you?" she asked, hugging him.

"Dashingly handsome and single," Sirius said with a wink. "Weren't you paying attention? Anyway, where is that incorrigible husband of yours?" He opened his mouth to yell James' name.

Lily put a finger on her lips. "He's putting Harry to bed. Or," she added as a happy laugh came from upstairs, "he's trying."

James came downstairs, Harry in his arms and a pained look on his face. "Lils," he said, "he just _won't_ go to sleep."

Harry let out an affirmative "uh-huh", then, spotting Sirius, held out his arms and squealed, "Padfoot!"

"Hello pup!" Sirius took Harry and bounced him. "How's my favorite godson?"

"I drawed a pishure!" Harry proclaimed and wiggled until he was put down. He slowly carefully toddled to the coffee table by the sofa and picked up a paper. "See?"

"Oh? What's that?" Sirius crouched beside him.

Harry pointed excitedly. "Me and mum and dad and you and Wormy and Moony."

Sirius smiled a bit sadly. Harry had drawn himself outside, holding his parents' hands and the rest of them standing around, brightly colored and smiling. _If only the world was so simple._

"It's beautiful pup. So," Sirius rose and hugged James before asking, "when are Wormy and Moony coming?"

"Shouldn't be too long," James replied and almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" James called.

A hoarse voice replied, "Remus John Lupin. I enchanted the Marauder's Map to say rude things about people who tried to see it without the password."

A second higher pitched voice said, "Peter Pettigrew. I turned Sirius' hair bright pink and curly in second year."

James laughed while Sirius scowled at the reminder. Remus and Peter walked in and Harry ran to wrap his short arms around Remus' legs.

"Moony!"

"Hey cub!" Remus tossed Harry into the air and caught him, causing Harry to break into giggles and Lily to have a miniature heart attack.

"Remus!" she cried, rushing forward.

"Oh, calm down," James said, an arm thrown over Peter's shoulders. "He won't drop him." Lily still took Harry firmly from Remus, who laughed and went to hug James.

"Remus, did you bring them?" Lily asked.

"Yep. Here you go," Remus said, producing a box from inside his cloak.

Sirius watched Lily take them into the kitchen with a look of glee. "You made brownies!"

"Yes, Lily asked me to," Remus said. "Apparently I make good desserts."

"Apparently?" James said, incredulously. "Who was the one who made all the food when we spent that week on our own in my house after sixth year?"

Remus grinned. "Well I wasn't about to let any of you in the kitchen, what with your and Sirius' destructive personalities and Peter's abysmal cooking talents."

"Oi!" Peter exclaimed, pretending to look affronted, but ruined it by breaking into a grin. "When's dinner?"

"Whenever you're ready," Lily replied, coming back into the hall. "Why is everyone standing around the front door? You _can_ sit down, you know."

Soon, everyone was seated in the living room, holding plates of food and drinks on the table. Harry was sitting in the middle of his stuffed animals and making them run around: a wolf, a rat, a dog, and a stag.

"Anything new?" James asked.

"Since last Friday night? No, nothing," Sirius replied. "There was a raid on an abandoned house that Dung tipped us off about but we didn't find anything."

"There's an Order meeting Sunday night," said Remus, stretching and yawning.

"Standard stuff again. Wow, I'm stuffed. Food was fabulous Lily."

"Well, on the brighter side," Peter piped up, "Caradoc Dearborn and Dorcas Meadows finally admitted they were snogging."

Lily squealed. "Finally! How did that happen? I can't imagine shy, little Dorcas saying anything."

Peter grinned. "They didn't have much choice. We walked in on them after we came back from the raid."

"Well we all knew anyway," Lily said, grinning.

"Oh, I went to visit Ted and Andromeda the other day," Sirius remarked. "Dora misses you two," he pointed at James and Lily, "quite a bit. She told me to say hello when I saw you."

Lily smiled. "Aw, she's so sweet. Tell her that we miss her too!"

A happy shriek sounded from by their feet and they looked to see Harry sitting in the middle of four racing stuffed toys. He clapped excitedly as the toys continued to gambol around like their living counterparts.

"That's the first time he's done magic!" James exclaimed. Lily ran to get a camera and she snapped several pictures. The flash distracted Harry and as he looked up, the animals fell to the ground unmoving.

"Come on pup," Sirius said, falling to his knees beside Harry. "Do it again." He stood the dog up and bounced it around the floor. When he let go, it fell down again. Harry yawned.

"Ok well, that's enough," Lily decided. "Time for bed young man." Harry protested feebly but by the time everyone had ruffled his hair and given him kisses, Harry was drooling on her shoulder. Lily swept him off to the nursery. Remus got up as well.

"I have to get back home. I have an early morning mission tomorrow and I need to get in a few hours of sleep before I go."

He hugged them all. "See you all for dinner next week." Then he walked out the door, past the anti-apparation wards and disapparated with a soft pop.

They watched him leave before Sirius turned to Peter with a grave face. "How are things?"

Peter knew Sirius wasn't simply asking after his health. "No Death Eaters around my place. At least, no more than the usual search."

"My place is still crawling with the filthy scum. I had to apparate directly onto the threshold of the charms so they wouldn't see me. Almost got caught yesterday."

"Well," Peter said, "at least your plan seems to be working. I'm not much of a target. They still don't suspect me."

James frowned. "Are you sure you'll be ok, Sirius? It's bad enough Peter is in danger but you need to be careful too."

Sirius shrugged. "I'll be fine. Besides, no one but the three of us knows. And," his face grew hard, "if it protects that little boy who just performed magic for the first time, then everything is worth it." James nodded. Even he would not argue with that. Harry meant everything to all of them.

"Ok I'm going to get going too. I'll try and come by later this week but definitely on Friday." He hugged James and pecked Lily, who had just returned after finally putting Harry to bed, on the cheek. Peter too bid them good night and the two walked out, each disapparating with quiet pops.

_31st October 1981_

_A cloak swished over the ground. The little village was bright with lights and laughter as children went door to door, asking for candy. No one paid notice to the strange man in the black cloak, not on this night. He made his way up to an unnoticed house, through the gate, and blasted the door open. Screams and shouts came from the people inside, and still the villagers didn't notice.  
Inside the little house, a man lay dead. His face shocked but set. Upstairs, a woman was trembling as she clutched a baby to her; trapped in the same room she had sought refuge in. The door to the nursery flew open and the cloaked man stepped in. Her heart nearly stopped. Dropping the baby into the crib, she stood in front of it, arms spread to shield the one person she had left in the world.  
_

"_Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

"_Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside, now."_

"_Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –"_

"_This is my last warning –"_

"_Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy … Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything –"  
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"_

_A shrieked curse. A flash of green light. A scream.  
The woman dropped to the floor, sadness and terror etched onto her face. The cloaked man turned to the baby, who whimpered with fear._

The people stopped, shocked as a house suddenly exploded. No one had noticed it before, like the things one doesn't miss until they're gone. People yelled for someone to "Call the police!" and "Get an ambulance!" Some people shook their heads with pity. "That poor family. She was always so kind and her husband was a dear. And they had such lovely children." No one ever found it peculiar that they never knew who had lived in that house after all and after a little while, the incident was forgotten and people moved on.

And far away a man was pacing.

Sirius peeked out of his curtains. The Death Eaters who usually prowled his street looking for the smallest sign of him were missing. Only one cloaked figure stood outside in the street, carelessly gazing around. Sirius was almost certain that he could go and stand right in front of him and nothing would happen.

"I don't like this," he muttered to himself. "I don't like this at all. I wonder..." A chill ran down his spine. He suddenly had a very bad feeling. Quickly striding to his fireplace, he grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fire, calling, "Peter Pettigrew." The fire sputtered, throwing green flames, but no answer came. He tried again and still there was no answer. Sirius felt like a cold hand was squeezing his heart. He grabbed his coat, threw it on and, stepping outside his door, disapparated to Peter's house. The small cottage looked undisturbed. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief to see that there was no Dark Mark floating in the sky. Then a horrible suspicion rose in his mind. He ran up to the door and knocked. "Peter! Peter, are you there?" He tried the door handle and it turned and opened smoothly. Inside, there was no sign of a struggle or chaos. No blood stained the walls and Sirius' suspicions grew. "Peter!" he called again. "Please no," he muttered desperately. "Please don't. Please." At wits end, he ran out of the house and disapparated again.

He reappeared in Godric's Hollow, in front of a smoking ruin where just yesterday he had eaten dinner and seen his godson's first use of magic.

"No," he breathed, his voice cracking with grief. "No." He didn't want to go inside, didn't want to see what he knew he would find, but his legs carried him forward anyway. He stumbled into the front hall. Lying prone on the floor by the stairs, as though he had tried to block his attacker from going up, was James Potter.

"James?" Sirius whispered. He dropped to his knees and shook James by the shoulders. "James, wake up. Please wake up. Oh my god, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." He pulled his brother's body into his arms, burying his face in James' neck, sobbing. _Gone, he's gone. And it's entirely your fault._ "No!" he screamed, sobs still wracking his body. Slowly he lowered James back onto the floor. "Lily? Harry?" he called fearfully. Silence. He made his way up the stairs, which shuddered and creaked under his weight. The door to the nursery was hanging by a hinge. There were pieces of furniture and splinters of wood streaming the hallway. Sirius avoided the pieces and stepped into the nursery. A crumpled body with flaming red hair lay in front of the cot. Sirius' eyes widened.

"Lily," he breathed hoarsely, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks once more. He sank down beside her and gently rolled her over, hugging her body to his chest as it slowly lost its warmth. "Oh, Lily." Her face held the same terrified expression of all Killing Curse victims but her eyes held such sadness and regret for leaving her child. "Oh god, I'm sorry." He placed a kiss on her cheek, just like he had done when she had laughed at him last night.

The only one whom Sirius had not looked for was Harry. Sirius was tempted to turn and leave. He did not think he would be able to survive seeing his godson with the same empty green eyes and the shocked expression. But he had to. Turning, Sirius peered into the cot where a small boy lay curled up around a stuffed stag, face buried in the animal's neck. Sirius' heart broke, and a pain worse than anything he had felt ripped through him. His laughing little pup was still, quiet, dead. Sirius' head spun and blackness bean to creep into the edges of his vision. But then he realized that Harry was..._breathing_.

"Harry? Pup?" Sirius whispered through the bars. Harry looked up, his eyes filled with fear.

"Padfoot?" He started to cry. Sirius snatched him up and cradled him to his chest, bouncing him and softly humming to quiet him. "Shh, you're ok. You're ok," Sirius whispered, pressing a kiss to the baby's head.

"Mama!" Harry wailed and Sirius felt tears run down his cheeks again.

"I know, pup, I know," he said, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry. She isn't coming back."

Harry whimpered again, burying his face into the crook of Sirius' neck.

"Peter, you bastard," Sirius raged. "I'm coming for you, so hide you filthy little rat."

He started to put Harry back down into the crib, but Harry gripped him around the neck hard and began to wail again. Sirius looked down at his godson and his anger melted into shame and concern. How could he even think about abandoning Harry?  
_There's only one place to go._ Wrapping Harry tightly in his blanket, he gazed at Lily and James' bodies for the last time and disapparated.

_I'll look after him. I promise._

Remus was fast asleep. The early morning mission had turned into a full day's chase only for it to wind up as a dead end. The Order members had staggered into headquarters, given their report and then promptly gone home to sleep. A frantic banging came from the front door, but Remus just shifted and settled back down, still asleep.

A massive crash came from the door, almost taking it off its hinges if it had not been warded. Remus sat bolt upright and raced to the door, wand in hand.

"Who is it?" he called, pointing his wand at the door.

Sirius' choked voice rang out. "It's me Remus. Open the door, please." Remus almost did when he heard the agony in Sirius' voice but common sense won over.

"Where was I first bitten?"

"Left side, just above your hip." Remus wrenched the door open to see Sirius standing there, swaying unsteadily and clutching a bundle of blankets tightly to his chest. Dried tears streaked his cheeks.

"God Padfoot," Remus breathed, pulling Sirius inside and seating him on the couch. "What happened?"

Sirius took a shaky breath. "James and Lily. They're...dead." He took another shuddering breath.

Remus heart nearly stopped. _Lily and James_. Then his face grew hard. "How?" he asked, harshly. "You were their secret keeper."

Sirius shook his head blindly. "No," he said hoarsely.

"No?" Remus began incredulously but Sirius cut across him.

"Peter was secret keeper. We switched and let everyone think that I was. I thought he would be a less obvious choice and less of a target." His voice became hard. "Filthy little rat. Must have been the proudest moment of his life. Selling out his friends. All that glory."

Remus shook his head. "Maybe he was tortured. Maybe he didn't realize it." He looked around helplessly, as if searching for a different answer. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I went to his house. There was no sign of a struggle. He's a traitor." Sirius avoided the last question, but Remus didn't pursue it.

Remus sank back down, weakly and put his face in his hands. "Oh god," he moaned. "James and Lily and … _Harry!_" His head shot up and there was a wild look in his eyes. "What about Harry?" Sirius carefully peeled back a corner of the blanket bundle to reveal a now-sleeping Harry. Remus put a hand gently on his forehead and stroked his hair back with his thumb. He stopped abruptly. "What's that?" he asked. A small lightning bolt-shaped cut was etched into Harry's forehead.

"I don't know," Sirius replied. "There was a lot of broken furniture. I guess something must have hit him in the explosion."

"How did he survive?" Remus asked. "Voldemort was gone when you got there right?"

"Yes, only Harry was still alive." Sirius said.

"That's odd. Maybe Dumbledore–" he stopped. "Dumbledore! He doesn't know anything! He probably thinks you're guilty and Harry is dead!" He grabbed a handful of floo powder and was about to throw it into the fire when the flames turned green.

"Hide!" he hissed and Sirius hurried into the bedroom. Harry nearly woke but Sirius rocked him and he fell back asleep.

Remus turned back to the fire. A woman's head was in the flames, dried tears streaked her cheeks and her eyes glitter with still more tears. She looked weaker than Remus had ever seen her before.

"Hello Minerva," Remus said.

"Remus there's –" she stopped blinking back tears. "Perhaps you ought to come through." Minerva McGonagall pulled her head back out and the flames died again.

"Sirius, don't come until I call for you," Remus called urgently. He threw the floo powder into the flames, said, "Dumbledore's office", and stepped inside. Whirling, he waited until Dumbledore's familiar office appeared in front of him and stepped out. Dumbledore nodded at him gravely.

"Good evening, or I suppose it is night now," Dumbledore. "Minerva has called you her because –" Dumbledore stopped and took a deep breath, his eyes brighter than normal. "I can't say this any other way. Voldemort attacked Godric's Hollow last night. James and Lily were killed and Harry has disappeared. Sirius betrayed them." His voice shook with anger. "The entire Order and Auror departments are searching but the amount of Dark Magic in that place is so high that any diagnostic spells are failing. I'm sorry." He met Remus' eyes and his eyes widened with surprise. "Is this- is this not a shock?"

"Not exactly," Remus replied sadly, but then his voice became more confident. "Professor, I think there's something you should know." Remus rose and threw a handful of floo powder into the grate. "Come through and bring him with you!"

Dumbledore and McGonagall looked mystified. A booted foot suddenly appeared in the flames and a man came through in a swirl of robes.

"You!" McGonagall gasped.

Dumbledore's eyes were like ice as he surveyed the man in front of him. Then his eyes fell to the bundle cradled in Sirius' arms as they widened. "Is that- is that _Harry_?" Sirius nodded and Dumbledore sank into his chair relief lining his face.

McGonagall was still staring at him. "Why?" she asked in a broken voice.

Sirius glared at her. "Did you honestly think I betrayed Lily and James? I loved them like family. They were my family. Didn't you think there was more to it?"

McGonagall simply gaped at him.

"The evidence is rather overwhelming, Sirius," Dumbledore remarked quietly. "You say you are not guilty and I would believe you except for the fact that the Potters were under the Fidelius Charm and you," a note of steel entered his voice, "we're their secret keeper."

"Well for one thing I wasn't their secret keeper," Sirius began, sitting down in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I realized that I would be the most obvious choice for James to pick. I wasn't afraid of the danger; I was terrified that if Voldemort came for me, I might break. So we secretly chose Peter." Sirius' voice grew hard. "Who would have thought that shy, little Peter would be the key for charm?

"Death Eaters still skulked around my neighborhood, but they couldn't find my house. If there's anything I learnt from my parents, it's how to keep out unwanted visitors. Peter said that Death Eaters didn't come by his place. Of course they wouldn't have. Not while he was all chummy with them. I should have known." His voice trailed off and he buried his face in Harry's hair. He steeled himself and continued. "A few hours ago –" _Had it only been that long?_ "– I had a bad feeling. There weren't many Death Eaters around which meant they were all gathering somewhere. I fire-called Peter, but he didn't answer. I apparated over, thinking he had been attacked, but his house was clean. No sign of a struggle, nothing. That's when I knew. So I went to Godric's Hollow and –" He gestured mutely to Harry.

Dumbledore sat silently, contemplating this extraordinary tale. _Could it be anything but the truth?_ He studied the young man in front of him, James' brother in all but blood. If he were honest with himself, no, Sirius would never have betrayed Lily and James. "What is that?" he asked, suddenly.

"What?" Sirius replied, bewildered.

"That scar on his forehead," Dumbledore said, pointing.

"Oh, I think he must have gotten it in the attack. There was a lot of broken furniture, so something must have hit him on the head." Dumbledore swept around the desk to examine it. He waved his wand over it, and the tip of his wand glowed a soft purple.

Harry shifted and woke. "Mama," he called plaintively. "Mama!"

"Oh, hey pup," Sirius rocked him. "Go on back to sleep. It's almost three in the morning."

"Padfoot!" Harry grasped at his face. Then, all of a sudden, he began to wail. Sirius bounced him, but Harry kept crying. Sirius looked up at the other three, panic stricken.

"What do I do?" Sirius asked, helplessly.

"Maybe he's hungry," Remus suggested.

"I don't have any baby food!"

"I'll take Harry down to the kitchens," McGonagall interrupted. "The house elves are bound to able to whip up something." She held out her hands for the baby, but Sirius didn't relinquish his hold. "Oh, for heaven's sake, boy. Harry needs food!" Sirius reluctantly gave her Harry and she cradled the infant gently. "Come on," she said softly.

Sirius turned back to the headmaster. "I will be able to keep Harry, right?" he asked worriedly.

Dumbledore sighed. "And here we come to the heart of the problem. Legally, yes you have to be given custody because you are named his godfather. However, legally, you are also noted as Lily and James' secret keeper. Their deaths make you a felon." Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but Dumbledore overrode him. "This can be rectified easily. There will be a trial, and three drops of Veritaserum will nullify the charges. I will vouch." Sirius grinned, but his face fell as Dumbledore continued in a much more somber tone. "But there is another problem.

"After the attack on the Potters, Voldemort vanished. I don't mean he left. I mean he was destroyed."

"He's dead?" Sirius whispered, while Remus gasped.

"Dead? No, I do not think so. He has become less than a shade, stripped of all his powers. I had my suspicions, but I thought they were wild, born of false hopes. And then you show me Harry, and I wondered. _How could a wizard so powerful, who has killed everyone in his path, not manage to kill a child of barely a year?_" Dumbledore began to pace as he spoke.

"There is old magic, old enough for Voldemort to have overlooked, ignored. A protection invoked when someone dies out of love, to protect the people they love."

"Lily and James," Remus whispered hoarsely.

"I believe James was killed far too quickly to have protected anyone, but yes, it is Lily. She was found –"

"In front of the crib," Sirius cut in. "She was trying to block Harry from Voldemort."

"Yes. His mother's love saved him from the Killing Curse and this, I believe, is what his scar comes from. There is residual Dark Magic, which I removed, but when Voldemort tried to curse Harry, it bounced back and killed him, as much as it could."

"Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived," Sirius said bitterly. "He'll be famous. The child who stopped Voldemort." He glared angrily into the now nearly dead embers. Harry didn't deserve this. He needed his family. He needed a normal childhood where he could grow up with wizarding friends without them gawking at him like some sort of celebrity.

"Sorry," Remus interrupted the silence, "but I still don't see why Sirius can't adopt Harry." Sirius perked up at this.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore added. "Unfortunately, for the protection to work, it needs the blood of the one who cast it. In other words, Harry must live with Lily's blood relatives."

"But Lily doesn't have any. Her parents died a year back," Sirius said, frowning.

"She has a sister, I believe, by the name of Petunia Dursley," Dumbledore said.

"NO!" Remus and Sirius yelled at the same time. Dumbledore nearly jumped and Sirius found himself vaguely thinking, _I suppose even Dumbledore can be startled_.

"Professor!" Remus exclaimed. "You _can't_ send Harry to her. She's a horrible woman. She hates Lily. Harry will be absolutely miserable with her."

"And she's married to this horrible whale-man named Vermin or something. He hates Lily and James. They would definitely abuse Harry."

"Gentlemen," Dumbledore interrupted. "I think you may be overreacting. Petunia and Lily may have had their differences but Harry is just an innocent child and her blood relation as well. She will definitely take him in."

Sirius scoffed. "Pardon me for saying so sir, but you have no idea what you're talking about. Lily came back with horror stories from all her holidays. Her sister is as repulsed by magic as my parents were to Muggleborns. Lily told us how after she got her letter, Petunia called her 'freak'. Never 'Lily', just 'freak'. She didn't bother inviting Lily to her wedding and her whale-of-a-husband refers to the Potters as 'freaks' as well. Yes, the _obvious_ thing to do is to send Lily and James' son, the embodiment of everything they hate, to be their adoptive child. They won't want him."

Dumbledore was silent.

"Sir," Remus began timidly compared to Sirius' incensed outburst, "I know Sirius is right. Wouldn't it be better for Harry to be raised in a safe, loving environment rather than one that is a constant threat?"

"What would you have me do about the protection? It only lasts if there is a very close connection to Lily." Dumbledore asked quietly, "The charm will last until he is seventeen years of age and I have a feeling that Harry will become a target long before that. He will need his mother's protection."

"What about Godric's Hollow?" Minerva McGonagall's soft voice interrupted them. She had come back into the office.

"Where's Harry?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"Playing with and being doted upon by at least a dozen fascinated house-elves. They'll take good care of him and they can bring him up if anything goes wrong. Anyway," she turned to Dumbledore, "if Lily and James' house is rebuilt, Harry could live there. There's no place with a stronger connection."

"What about the blood connection?" Dumbledore asked.

Minerva pondered this. "I don't think it meant that it had to be a literal blood relative. I think it means a thing that is so deeply entwined with the person's life that it's as strong as blood. It doesn't necessarily have to be a person. Also," she added, "Lily and James will be buried in the cemetery in Godric's Hollow, so the sheer proximity should empower the charm."

Sirius was staring at Dumbledore intently hope shining in his eyes.

"Yes, that may just work," Dumbledore nodded. "Sirius would you be comfortable, living in Lily and James' house, once it's rebuilt?"

Sirius swallowed. _Can I live in the same house that my best friends died in trying to protect the child that I will raise? Is that fair?_ And Harry's big green eyes slid into his mind's view and he could almost hear his laugh. "Yes, I can live there. For Harry."

Dumbledore nodded. "I will have arrangements made to have it rebuilt, and you can remain here at Hogwarts until it is finished. There are wings of the school where students have not been allowed access so you may live in the quarters there for privacy. It will probably be for the best if you go under the Fidelius Charm once again, just until we are sure it is safe. Whom do you want for you secret keeper?"

"Remus," Sirius replied automatically.

Remus looked taken aback. "Are – are you sure?"

"Positive." There was a sudden crack and a small house-elf appeared, holding Harry in her arms.

"The little master fell asleep Professor sir, and Trixy thinks that the kitchens are no place for a little boy to sleep so she is bringing him up here," the elf said in a squeaky voice as Sirius took the baby from her.

"Thank you, Trixy," Dumbledore said. "Would you so kind as to show Sirius and Remus to their rooms. I think we can use the suites in the fourth floor in the blocked off passage." Trixy nodded and led the men out of the room.

"Good night, Albus, Minerva," Remus said, as he followed her out.

Sirius paused a moment and gave Minerva a quick hug. "Thank you," he whispered. She hugged him back and stroked the hair from Harry's forehead.

"Good night."

Sirius put Harry down in the bed and stretched out beside him. Harry burrowed into his shoulder, seeking the warmth and safety Sirius provided. He yawned in his sleep. Sirius dropped a kiss onto his forehead.

"Don't worry, pup. I'll protect you. I promise."

A/N: Too abrupt? Too Long? Too cheesy? Drop me a line and tell me what you think!


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